When the early church in Paul's time were going through a trial of famine and poverty, the Macedonian congregation, with their meager resources, contributed spontaneously to the needs of other congregations, somewhat putting to shame the Corinthian congregation, well endowed with both physical and spiritual abundance. Paul desired to have the Corinthians emulate the Macedonians, who measured their wealth not so much by physical dimensions, but the largesse of spiritual gifts, which God's Holy Spirit enabled them to evaluate. What God did for us, we ought to pass along to others. God's people are urged to use His Spirit to properly evaluate the real extent of their riches (I Corinthians 2:12-14), not coming before Almighty God empty-handed.